Robert Parry: William Polk on Muslim Memories of West’s Imperialism — What Our Presidential Candidates and Public Do Not Know…

04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Terrorism, 10 Transnational Crime, Civil Society, Corruption, Government, Idiocy, IO Deeds of War, Military, Peace Intelligence
Robert Parry
Robert Parry

Muslim Memories of West’s Imperialism

Special Report: American politicians know little about history, so they lash out at people from formerly colonized Third World nations without understanding the scars that the West’s repression and brutality have left on these societies, especially in the Muslim world, as historian William R. Polk explains. Read full article.

Chuck Spinney: Divide Iraq? Get a Brain….

Ethics, Government
Chuck Spinney
Chuck Spinney

Should the West Partition Iraq?

Some people still cling to the belief that a formal partition of Iraq into three states — sometimes referred to as Shiastan, Sunnistan, and Kurdistan — would cure the chaos the United States created when it invaded Iraq in the Spring of 2003.  Partition is a simple idea that grabs the imagination. But the nation-building wannabes inside the beltway have a poor track record when it comes to creating designer nations in the Middle East.

Attached herewith is an exchange between Ambassador Edward Peck and the historian William R. Polk.  Together, they explain succinctly why the principle of parsimony does not hold when it comes to Iraq: there is no Occam’s Razor to cut through the mess we created in Iraq.  Moreover, as Polk suggests, the destructive effects accompanying partition will continue the spillover into Syria and Turkey.  And while Lebanon is not mentioned, what affects Syria affects Lebanon and the Palestinian question.

Continue reading “Chuck Spinney: Divide Iraq? Get a Brain….”

Sepp Hasslberger: Kenyan Community Currencies

03 Economy
Sepp Hasslberger
Sepp Hasslberger

A paper describing an alternative view on money for a UN initiative…

Re-imagining Money to Broaden the Future of Development Finance: What Kenyan Community Currencies Reveal is Possible for Financing Development

Grassroots economics, in a context of a community of micro-entrepreneurs, uses a Collaborative Credit System (CCS) in which members issue interest free credit to each other. This is similar to how most national currencies are created, yet it is done peer-to-peer, without the involvement of banks.

Mongoose: One Million Pending Veteran Applications for Health Care — One Third of Them Dead?

07 Health, 07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Corruption, Government, Ineptitude, Military
Mongoose
Mongoose

Nearly 1 million veterans have pending applications for health care at VA — and a third may already be dead

34,000 men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are losing their guaranteed five-year eligibility for VA service due to “systematic obstacles.”

Tip of the Hat to Mark Patrick at LinkedIn.